Digital Communication in the Age of Immediacy

Abstract

The media has become a central aspect of everyday life, providing information and entertainment, and serving as a basis for citizen consumption. The content that appears on the internet today is the result of numerous experiences accumulated throughout the history of media, particularly in the last four decades of technological and social development. The following text analyses how the hybridisation of analogue and digital technologies affects audience consumption patterns and expectations, leading to a more flexible relationship with the media. This study employed a theoretical examination of documentary sources, including texts, articles, and digital materials. The findings indicate a shift from simple, vertical, and linear communication systems to networks that enable horizontal and personalised consumption. The conclusion drawn is that technology has redefined structures and concepts, with the smartphone serving as the focal point of media consumption. Living culture is shaped by technology, because the message, more than the specific content, is the meaning, recognition, and exchange of a world that needs to be re-thought.

1. Previous context

The digital ecosystem presents a constant stream of information without sufficient context or references for the reader to fully comprehend and organise. The adoption of technology has created a new dynamic between media and users, with time being the defining factor in this transformation [1]. However, simply having easy and immediate access to information does not guarantee its relevance or promote critical understanding of the content. Digital media literacy is increasingly important in understanding the convergence of traditional media messages with short hybrid formats created at the crossroads of online channels and media [2]. This includes tweets, stories, push notifications, newsletters, memes, and emoticons, among others. The list of formats will continue to grow and change as innovation in devices, applications, social media, and platforms progresses and as users adopt and adapt to them [3].

The proposed scientific review of media ecology [4,5,6,7,8] over time will follow five major conceptual blocks, in the order of the documentary review conducted by the authors of this text. In the first stage, that of the analogue era, the media became a fundamental element of everyday life; they popularised themes, introduced expectations, and generated needs in the collective imaginary. The second stage was that of the mediation of consumption, in which audiovisual programming techniques determined consumption patterns and habits to the point of conditioning schedules and even the configuration of the home. The biosphere played a role in shaping the criteria for decoding and understanding the narrative and aesthetic elements of the different genres and contents. In terms of media literacy and ecology, citizens were able to access messages both synchronically and semantically: they were able to differentiate between genres, distinguish fiction from entertainment, and discriminate between advertising and information.

In recent decades, technological innovations have transformed the public’s relationship with the media [9]. The proliferation of satellite and cable networks has led to the creation of specialised channels, while the emergence of digital media has resulted in a hybridisation of languages that has made the audience’s relationship with the media more flexible and redefined their expectations and consumption patterns. As a result, production logics have been altered, and user routines have changed [10]. In the new century, platforms have introduced a radical change in the media ecosystem. Their sophisticated complexity allows for personalised menus, placing everyone at the centre of the offer. This aims to absorb what was previously referred to as ‘available time’, now known as the ‘attention rate’. To achieve this, it exposes them to a constant and intense stream of stimuli to encourage their prolonged use of all devices for accessing content, particularly smartphones.

The fourth stage is characterised by instantaneity, which is linked to an overwhelming whirlwind of stimuli through multiple channels and media. These channels and media are increasingly devoid of contexts or references that allow for comprehensible, even-ordered, digestion by the user. A new narrative species has emerged, that of short textual formats, which has given rise to the so-called ‘snack culture’. Media micro-formats condense short but significant stories [11]. They are linked to micro-textual expressions of knowledge that precede the media itself, such as riddles, allegories, parables, commandments, proverbs, refrains, sayings, and aphorisms. This is like the power of a message that goes viral on social networks.

Citizens’ relationship with the media can influence their thoughts and behaviours. In the digital environment, media–audience–user perspectives are triangulated, potentially fragmenting reality and revitalising the mediation process [12,13,14]. The aim of this analysis is to explore the convergence of analogue and digital technologies and the audience’s relationship with media content. Media ecology is a useful framework for understanding the digital transformation of the media industry and the behaviour of agents in constructing reality [15,16]. We are currently living in an era where information and entertainment are easily and instantly accessible [17]. However, the ease and immediacy of access alone do not guarantee the relevance or critical understanding of the content consumed. Therefore, media literacy is more important than ever to effectively respond to the challenge of comprehending and dealing with our surroundings [18].

2. Introduction

The media are fundamental institutions in daily life, central sources of information and entertainment, and shape citizens’ perceptions of their surroundings. Since the advent of the internet, this sphere has experienced significant growth; over the past 40 years, there has been a shift from a basic, linear hierarchy in the public’s engagement with the media to the formation of networks and micro-networks which have spawned a wide variety of offshoots with numerous participants. The various communicative propositions circulating through the internet reshape our access to knowledge while concurrently constituting the foundation of a culture that allows for the facile and direct transmission of discourses that ascribe significance to the events occurring throughout the world, both local and planetary. Much of this process can be explained by the media ecology [19]. This refers to the context and environment of media, encompassing its structure, content, and impact on people.

The widespread adoption of the internet and its ensuing social and cultural effects has transformed the dynamic between citizens and the media. The digital landscape has revolutionised the way we interact with the world, as technology has placed a greater emphasis on virtual social engagement. Within these micro-communities, citizens interpret and assign significance to the messages and priorities of the digital sphere [20,21]. The current landscape has reconceptualised structures and notions, particularly with the smartphone being at the forefront of interpersonal communication and user media consumption [22]. Technology moulds our living culture, wherein the message bears more significance than specific content and allows us to honour items we relate to with an openness to reassess the milieu surrounding individual subjects.

The media system that comprised the press [23], radio [24], and television [25] during the 1980s has transitioned into a world that has been shaped by the internet [26] during the 1990s and communication platforms during the 2000s [27]. Alongside these traditional media, there have emerged web media, app media, social media, live media, podcasts (during the 2010s), and other channels for disseminating communicative content [28]. A wide range of products and services are available to users on various screen devices, which individuals spend an average of 6 h and 37 min a day on. Currently, there are 5.44 billion smartphones globally that enable users to watch television (3 h 23 min), engage in social networks (2 h 31 min), read the press (2 h 10 min), access music (1 h 38 min), listen to the radio (59 min), and consume podcasts (1 h 2 min) [29].

In interpreting and shaping reality, the role of traditional media (newspapers 15%, radio 16%, television 48%) is weakening while online media are becoming increasingly prominent (67%), particularly social networks such as Facebook (28%), YouTube (20%), WhatsApp (16%), Instagram (14%), Twitter (11%), Messenger (6%), TikTok (6%), or Snapchat (2%) [30]. Their narratives are founded on proposals that unify text, sound, and image. However, they do so by intentionally violating the grammar conventions of radio and TV genres through various structures and codes.

People’s relationship with media technologies shapes their thoughts and actions. McLuhan argued in Understanding Media that technology’s effects do not manifest as opinions, “but constantly and without resistance alter relations of meaning and patterns of perception” [31] (p. 31). Neil Postman expanded on this notion, stating that everyone’s worldview is created by the media, and each medium suggests a new direction for thought, expression, and sensibility [32]. This triangulation of factors arises from the viewpoint of the medium, audience, and user, in turn placing the digital environment within the collective imagination, causing additional fragmentation of reality [33]. Additionally, this triggers the mediation process [34].

We are thus presented with a situation in which the visual sense is the most familiar, comfortable, and widely consumed sense, and offers greater appeal and effectiveness than text [35]. This element features affinity, stimulation, and persuasion elements which foster social interaction [36], resulting in a dialogue between the producer of the content and the viewer/user. This generates observable outcomes in the receiver’s behaviour such as increased exposure time, credibility, and receptiveness of the message [37]. This significant alteration to the production and distribution strategy of the communicative product presents a challenge to the issuing agent, necessitating the acquisition of new competencies in their work [38].

The analysis proposed here contributes to the research and study of media ecology [39] by understanding the strategy deployed in the reinvention of the media industry and the behaviour of agents in the construction of the notion of reality [40] in the collective imagination. We live in an era of easy and instant access to information and entertainment, but neither easy nor immediacy alone guarantees relevance, let alone critical understanding, of what is consumed [41]. More than ever, digital media literacy is essential, because who dares to live forever if communication does not provide the meaning to understand and know how to ideally engage with our surroundings?

3. The Means That Rock the Cradle

The 1980s marked a pivotal moment for traditional media. The press experienced a crisis of representation with the public, whilst radio improved its portability and adjusted its generalist and thematic schedules to cater to a wider audience [42]. Television capitalised on the use of colour imagery and expanded its reach with new channels, including some subscription-based options. The shift from a business model based on local, regional, and national concepts towards international expansion and the formation of media conglomerates was apparent.

Since the 1950s, FM radio has enabled the public to experience music as a cultural and social phenomenon, associated with age, social groups, and moods [43]. An archetypal illustration is the Top 40 format, which extensively plays the latest chart-topping songs on continuous rotation. The radio was named by its creators who took inspiration from the jukeboxes used in bars at the end of the 20th and the middle of the 21st centuries. These machines only allowed selection of a song by inserting a coin and were limited to holding only forty singles [44]. Despite being characterised by the repetition of the same songs, this paradoxical feature made it popular and encouraged listeners to purchase the records containing them.

In fact, between the mid-1950s and the advent of the internet, music radio functioned as the main platform to promote the catalogue of the record industry. This was facilitated by a relationship between radio and discos which extended beyond the economic and commercial aspects and developed with the emergence of a more diverse and segmented music scene. Subsequently, new radio stations emerged, specialising in different genres, styles, and audiences, expanding beyond the original Top 40 format. In the early years of the 21st century, radio programming schemes, such as Adult Contemporary, Country, Album Oriented Rock, Gold, and Beautiful Music, imposed the times and patterns of popularisation and consumption of music. This type of volatile content is now individualisable, as noted by Moreno-Cazalla and Pedrero-Esteban [43].

This accomplishment relied on a precise programming formula for radio that not only arranged the sequencing of records but also determined the positioning of advertisements, call signs, and even the duration of the presenter’s contributions, creating a musical clock, referred to as the “hot clock”. The system’s rationale is grounded on an exact equilibrium between recently released songs and those that have been on air for weeks. Every Saturday, a catalogue of 40 records is released, categorised by colour: red, green, blue, black, and white. The total number of newly released red records is consistently lower than the number of green ones, which have been airing for several weeks, and lower than the number of the progressively older and better-known blue, black, and white ones [45].

The radio formula implements a basic algorithm, utilising a mathematical progression that repeats newer records more frequently than older ones. This harmonic flow captures the listeners’ attention, enabling them to internalise the repetition patterns, which eventually enables them to anticipate when their preferred song will be played. The listeners adapt accordingly to the patterns established by the broadcast. The impact of music radio on cultural industries, its programming logic and effect on listener attention, symbolises a critical juncture in the development of mass media. Throughout the 20th century, the mass media has evolved to become an indispensable part of daily life in society [46].

As asserted by sociologist Nik Couldry, these technologies are designed to transmit and preserve content, and being essential with meaning, they prevent the world from being meaningless to anyone [47]. Connectivity is the primary means by which the organisation of society is established. It determines our behaviour, establishes routines, and ultimately shapes perception, and even critical thinking, regarding our surroundings.

4. The Mediation of Analogue Consumption

4.1. Media Ecology

Media ecology is a didactic communication theory that has been developed from the contributions of researchers like the Canadian philosopher Marshall McLuhan [48,49,50] and his student, the American sociologist Neil Postman [51]. It is one of the many communication theories and discourses that aim to conceptualise, systematise, and discuss communication practices [52]. In 1971, Postman launched the first media ecology programme at New York University, which institutionalised the concept [51]. The success of this approach lies in its attempt to analyse the influence of the media by combining approaches and processes of a technological, social, and cultural nature. The epistemology of this approach will not be delved into here [15].

Media ecology can be summarised by the basic concept that communication technologies, ranging from writing to mobile screens, produce surroundings that influence the individuals who utilise them [53]. This interpretation enables us to understand that media produce environments that encompass their users, shaping their perceptions and cognitions. Prior to the emergence of digital technology, the mass media, and their semiotic expressions [54] functioned as mere conveyors and intermediaries of the social, economic, and cultural milieu in which they were operating, although they also provided a basic framework of comprehension, despite their limited technological capabilities. Symbols, images, and sounds were imbued with significance, and their meanings were transmitted through these channels.

From the mid-nineteenth century, social communication was limited [55]. (a) On one hand, mechanical industry enabled the mass distribution of books and the press using the printing press and rotary press. (b) On the other hand, the cinema began its initial expansion, hampered by limitations in the distribution of celluloid tape and the projection equipment. Technical terms like celluloid tape have been explained on first use. (c) Sound communication was limited to radio, a medium that had attained national coverage and promised to expand globally through shortwave. (d) Television, which had not yet become a means of social communication in its primary stage of development, was impeded during the Second World War, and its expansion would only occur in the 1950s and 1960s [46].

During the early stages of media development, the current ecosystem originated from analogue languages and technologies. It was structured around a centralised, unidirectional, and vertical distribution model, which established a power dynamic of subordination between the broadcaster and the public [56]. One could select a newspaper from the news-stand, tune into different stations on the radio, or browse through the numerous TV channels using the remote control, colloquially known as “zapping”. However, there were no additional options available for engagement or instantaneous involvement [57]. What is significant regarding creation, production, distribution, and marketing is that each medium was a part of an industry shaped around specific and differential factors while also relying on independent technology in relation to each other [58].

An evaluation of the relationships between media producers and citizens is crucial in the current environment. These relationships are still identified and labelled based on the nature of the message, such as readers of the press and/or magazines, listeners to radio and/or music, and viewers of television and/or cinema. Objective analysis is necessary for an accurate assessment. There was no opportunity for confusion as the languages, media (paper, transistor, record or cassette player, television, cinema…) and distribution networks of each medium were distinct, as were the senses and abilities they targeted [59].

However, two transversal variables coincided: one external and ever evolving (the production and broadcasting technologies of each medium), and the other internal and constant (the talent and aptitude of professionals to craft captivating and evocative works, both in terms of narrative content (the stories) and formal presentation (the genres employed)). The tastes and patterns of media choice, exposure, and consumption determined citizens’ exclusive, unique, and inalienable perceptions naively [60].

4.2. Gender Branding and Consumption Patterns

All individuals over 30 years of age, who were raised during the era of mass and analogue media [47], have had their perceptions and patterns of assimilating information and entertainment shaped to a significant degree. As a result, they may still view current events, fiction, and escapism as if they were responding to the reality that conditioned them at that time. These generations struggle to comprehend the present-day media landscape owing to their upbringing amongst linear radio and television broadcasts, synchronous consumption, irreversible messages, and imposed schedules [61]. This environment accustomed viewers to passive television watching and adherence to content and genre durations, while simultaneously moulding their approach to interpreting and appreciating the narrative and aesthetic components. In other words, it solidified a level of media comprehension in which multiple generations of audience members were able to interpret material that was programmed to be unambiguous and processed strategies, while also factoring in the requisite time to fully comprehend said material. This homogenous and generalised behaviour is unsustainable under the alluring empire of digital technology [62].

Analogue technology enabled the rudimentary reception of channels, providing limited options of adjusting volume, channel selection, or identifying the broadcasted content. The passage of time emerged as a pivotal factor in the conception and establishment of audiovisual genres, which serve as the fundamental categories shaping the processes of creation, distribution, and commercialisation within the cultural industry [63]. The influence is readily evident when we analyse the types of TV drama that lay the foundation for the change in media landscape, epitomised by the proliferation of audiovisual streaming services such as Netflix, HBO, and Amazon Prime Video, as well as Filmin, Flixolé, or Atresplayer in Spain, among others [64].

In the realm of competitive free-to-air television, the objective of generalist programming and the duties of the programmer (including planning, production, procurement, promotion, and schedule shaping) were aimed at garnering the greatest possible viewership and establishing loyalty towards the unique content it provides [64]. In tackling this challenge, fiction has emerged as one of the most effective and efficient macro-genres [65]. This may be due to its ability to transfer the allure that stories have always held for humanity to the small screen. Moreover, unlike more restrictive literary or cinematic forms, the cathode-ray medium allows narrative, expressive, and aesthetic conventions to be portrayed through varied channels and thus engender specific expectations in viewers [66].

Television series have become choral, open-ended dramas characterised by a slow narrative development and repetitive dialogue that revolves around the main plot. The cast is often unfamiliar, making it necessary to acquaint oneself with multiple characters throughout the series. Broadcast daily, they are scheduled for an entire season, allowing fans to consume them without undivided attention or even miss an episode. Their typical broadcast time is in the afternoon, although some infrequent occurrences of prime-time broadcasts have been observed [67]. This trend has re-emerged in the digital era after the unforeseen triumphs of Turkish productions [68]. Such productions can be viewed as imitations of the prosperous radio serials that were previously labelled ‘soap operas’ due to being broadcast in the afternoon, when people were typically doing their dishes, and sponsored by detergent brands [44].

In this form of television fiction, the plots were slow and the action deliberately slow, so that the production could be spread over many episodes at a lower cost than series or films. Audiences embraced this narrative, which kept them engaged for months, even if they felt that the plots hardly moved forward. However, to encourage daily viewership, the scriptwriters employed cliffhangers at the end of each episode to create an extreme and unresolved dramatic situation, inducing psychological tension in the audience to maintain their interest in the next episode [69]. In Venezuela, these endings were perceived as “bites” of curiosity, reminiscent of a snake’s, leading to the country’s television critics labelling telenovelas “soap operas”, the Latin American version of a serial. The term “soap opera” has become widely used to describe both an audiovisual genre and the intricate daily situations that are like those portrayed in soap operas, due to the widespread recognition of this term.

The frequency with which these dramas are broadcast daily, and the ensuing tension that captivates their audiences every evening, differs from that of serials, which also depict conflicts and establish deep emotional connections with the viewer, but through a weekly sequential storyline. This rhythm created a distinct type of anticipation: every episode was aired with the assurance that, despite the development of the plots and characters’ issues from episode to episode, the outcome would remain unknown until the last day, regardless of the story’s nature [70].

In the 1990s, television series were typically scheduled in quarters consisting of thirteen episodes and running for several weeks between summer and Christmas, or from the start of the year until Easter. If a channel successfully captivated its audience with the initial episode, it was assured a devoted viewership and corresponding advertising revenue for the ensuing three-month period. Subsequently, if the viewer became engrossed in the narrative, they would have to wait patiently until the conclusion of the quarter to discover the outcome [71].

The miniseries genre is also delimited by time, with the key factor being the reduction in the number of episodes used to tell a story. During the 1990s and the first decade of the 2000s, commercial television channels showed little interest in this format, as the audience were more content with multiple seasons of their favourite drama. Interestingly, in the present decade, miniseries have emerged as a prominent offering of television channels and audiovisual streaming platforms. This is due to their proximity to ongoing events from a narrative perspective and their provision of concise stories with conclusive endings. Such brevity is increasingly valued given the vast selection of available titles and limited reviewing time [72].

The relationship between genres and formats and how they impact the shaping of expectations, patterns, and practices of media consumption can be seen in non-fictional contexts as well. For instance, the journalism industry carefully tailored the foundations of news production to align with the expressive variations present in the broadcasting of news stories. The radio bulletin, lasting three minutes and broadcasted hourly, provides a concise summary of the most significant and forthcoming events. Only pertinent information is included without superfluous details. Subjective evaluations are avoided in favour of objectivity. The main news bulletin is thirty minutes long and categorizes news into “sections” following the historical legacy of newspapers that employed the “inverted pyramid” scheme, ordered chronologically by the dates of news events. A headline, preceded by a subtitle or followed by a subtitle, an intro or lead, which concentrated the most important data (the answers to the famous six basic questions: what, who, when, where, how, and why), and a development, in which it was obligatory to write from the most important to the least important, in case the reader did not have enough time to read the whole story [73].

From a media ecology perspective and in terms of literacy, the organisation of structures, categories, and forms of expression of analogue mass media was highly effective in guaranteeing that citizens received messages not only synchronously, but also semantically. The masses were presented with identical information and comparable communicative products, resulting in a homogenisation of the impressions that their perception of current events was based on [74]. The development of consumption habits and expectations of content was founded on the delineations of genre brands. Even without prior training, citizens were able to discriminate between series, miniseries, serials, or sitcoms and differentiate between information, entertainment, and advertising versus fiction. A profound understanding of the media available allowed for critical evaluation, a crucial factor for an even more critical decision: whether to access it or not [75].

5. The Digital Ecosystem

In the final decades of the 20th century, technological advancements altered the interplay between citizens and the media [76]. In 1980, CNN, the inaugural cable channel to concentrate on news, arrived, followed a year later by MTV with their rendition of Top 40, albeit now complemented by video clips. This format introduced a noteworthy narrative innovation by compressing stories into three-minute durations, akin to the length of pop songs. The commercials were bewildering, serving as a compulsory school of fragment and speed aesthetics. The concept of ellipsis was brought to the forefront of the viewer’s minds, as the detergent’s magical ability to whiten in mere seconds was showcased.

The expansion of specialised channels always has been made possible with FM in radio, and cable and satellite in television. The initial attempt for “cinema on demand” was enabled by VHS and the video store. The compact disc and its automated song selection feature anticipated on-demand listening on music platforms. The Walkman, Discman, and transistor miniaturisation made audio consumption portable and individualised. As a result, the hybridisation of analogue and digital technologies enabled listeners and viewers to have a more flexible relationship with the media, ultimately redefining their consumption patterns and expectations [77].

It was the widespread digitisation of the media system which brought about permanent transformation to the production processes of the industry, as well as the habits and customs of its consumers [78]. The convergence of various technologies, channels, and narratives has led to a reciprocal transfer of expressions and languages used in analogue media [79]. As a result, it is now possible to access content from press, radio, or television indiscriminately, using terminals that offer numerous leisure and entertainment options, unimaginable just two decades ago. This has resulted in an unacceptable expectation for content to be accessible at any time, in any location, and on any device [80].

Platforms have played a significant role in this process, serving as the model, archetype, or prime example of the digital media landscape. Virtual spaces provide a wide variety of interactive services, ranging from social networks and platforms for user-generated content to websites where products are sold and exchanged, and even those that host video game competitions [81]. Additionally, they offer access to vast collections of audiovisual and sound content for streaming. The interesting aspect is that these platforms (such as Netflix for films or Spotify for pop music) were originally established on aggregation, operating as a video store or sound library offering titles created by other companies in the film or record industry [82].

They soon realised that to compete with one another they needed specific and exclusive content. Consequently, they became a powerful alternative to mainstream media [83]. Interestingly, even whilst it appears that consumption is individualistic, asynchronous, unique, and inimitable when watching HBO series, listening to podcasts or songs on Apple, viewing youtubers, or streaming e-sports on Twitch, such activities delimit one’s consumption profile. Big data and artificial intelligence can instantly identify, track, and even predict patterns, and preferences of such users [84]. The predictions made by Black Mirror in 2011 have materialised much sooner than envisaged by its creators.

We are currently experiencing an unparalleled transformation in the communication ecosystem: the previous mass models, with their depleted ability to amass and keep audiences, are unable to endure the attack from these systems, created through sophisticated technological intricacy that identifies individual or accumulated preferences to define patterns and generate communities centred on related demands [85]. They have created a novel form of engagement that prioritises users while yielding a higher ‘attention rate’, a coveted goal in the digital economy [86]. Achieved through intense, constant, and wide-ranging stimuli, the user is urged and enticed to remain glued to media content access devices, particularly smartphones.

6. The Instant Communication Paradigm

The latest technological developments, fusion of communication platforms, and blending of different storytelling techniques have transformed the fundamental nature of traditional media and their inherent, fixed forms of expression. These forms now mutually influence each other, in contrast to the traditional modes of reading printed press, listening to radio, or watching TV [87]. In today’s media ecosystem, we can access various forms of entertainment via terminals that converge and enhance possibilities for leisure. Digital platforms are now the primary sources of such media, offering vast collections of resources for instant consumption and employing tools that capture even the minutest features of user behaviour—a state of hyper-vigilance, according to Srnicek [88].

The collective citizen interactions across all digital platforms create a vast amount of data that exceeds analogue metrics and scales [89]. In merely one minute, Google registers 2.4 million searches worldwide, 694 thousand hours of video watched on YouTube, 167 million videos viewed on TikTok, and 1 (unit). 7 million Facebook posts, 66 thousand Instagram photos, 347 thousand tweets, and 2.43 million Snapchat snaps. Users also stream for 1 million hours, forward 241.2 million emails, and send 18.8 million SMS messages [90]. This estimate undergoes exponential growth annually, with both the user count and their activity on virtual platforms continuing to increase [91].

The widespread automation of data processing via artificial intelligence has spawned a novel media stream in which connection usurps contact, interaction supplants relationship, addiction replaces concentration, and the accumulation of information supersedes the exchange of experience. The evaluation of a programmed, event, or new record is no longer solely reliant on careful audience calculations from surveys and audiometers. Instead, it now depends on a meticulous and comprehensive analysis of views, downloads, likes, and comments; the more comments, the better, even if they go unread. Objective measurements hold more weight than subjective assessments [92].

Given text already adheres to the principles or lacks context, here is the answer: Faced with such an overwhelming whirlwind of stimuli that it is difficult to digest, the ecosystem itself offers two alternatives for adapting the media consumption of digital users, which can be correlated with the endogenous and exogenous variables mentioned above. The initial solution is revolutionary in comparison to its analog counterpart. The days still have 24 h, and the minutes still add up to 60 s. However, due to the digital compression of audio and video, it is possible to adjust their playback speed from 1.5× to 2× or 2.5×. This results in a shortened duration of the content. This feature is accessible not solely for downloaded films, series episodes, songs, podcasts, or audiobooks, but also for streaming on platforms including YouTube, Netflix, or Spotify [93].

Without delving into the alterations that this practice may have caused to the author’s original concept and the narrative and aesthetic traits of their work, speeding up audio or audiovisual content enhances the user’s time for entertainment or information. Within a timeframe of 24 h, it is feasible to view films or listen to audio books that formerly required 48 h. However, according to Ashlee Vance, the author of a successful downloadable biography on the Audible platform about Elon Musk that many users consumed at twice their normal speed, connecting the brain to a machine, and downloading information as efficiently as possible becomes a mechanical process where efficiency, rather than emotion, governs [94].

The second approach to managing the overwhelming flood of digital content is dependent on the external factor of creativity. Scolari cautions that the proliferation and consolidation of networks have significant impacts on both media ecology and individual consumption patterns. The network functions not simply as a medium, but as a meta-medium that fosters the development, experimentation, and ratification of new digital phenomena, linked, like in the past, to the incomparable advantages of technological innovation. Among these species, short text formats have found a place in “snack culture”, which represents original cultural forms in today’s media ecology. The rapid fragmentation and speed of the video clip, which surprised analysts and intellectuals in the last decades of the twentieth century, has now evolved into a textuality that takes the cult of brevity to its ultimate consequences. From this perspective, snack culture is perceived as a highly chaotic, re-combinatory, and fast-paced arena that supersedes the golden age of neo-television and opens doors to a novel cultural system [95].

What are the digital microspecies that constitute snack culture? Additionally, what are their features as related to the media formats and genres that have influenced media consumption habits thus far? The list is extensive and constantly updated with the development of media, technology, and user interpretations. It includes trailers, mobile episodes, webisodes, posts, tweets, memes, newsletters, SMSs, WhatsApp messages, stories, snapchats, push alerts, banners, recaps, and TikTok videos. These products condense stories into brief formats but remain meaningful and relevant. “We live in a world that often distrusts brevity and connects it with being simplistic, unnecessary, or even frivolous. It is commonly understood because of speed and fragmentation. As can be assumed and proven, both long-lasting banalities and valuable brevities exist” [96].

Snacking culture celebrates brevity and conciseness, as evidenced by the popularity of tweets that are no longer than 100 characters and Facebook posts that are 40 characters long achieving 86% more engagement than longer ones. Additionally, ephemeral stories introduced on Snapchat and popularised on other social networks have become a staple of this culture. It prioritises fragmentation (linear radio is enclosed in podcasts for on-demand use); it prioritises virality (a channel’s main goal is to become the prevailing subject matter of its programming); it favours remixing (the meme extends the lifespan of any character); and it normalises acceleration (and consequently, the miscalculation of time) [97].

This text demonstrates how the media industry has responded to the exigencies of the new consumer environment and the strategies that are currently driving its operations. The media’s common and convergent goal is to rejuvenate its audience by focusing on mobile phones. Social networks have become the ‘highways’ through which content attracts a younger audience, which over time will become captive. Therefore, strategies to enter these platforms such as Facebook, X (Twitter), Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube are crucial. The media’s proximity to users is reinforced by the number of views, the direct and immediate measurement of their impact, and the permeability and simplicity that facilitate live broadcasts as an alternative to the conventional signal. This proximity is not only related to the content but also to the brand and credibility that these media carry. Similarly, push notification alerts on mobile devices represent a new form of micro-journalism that strengthens the media’s connection to users’ daily lives. These notifications can include breaking news, calls to action for live consumption, or web content consultation, sports results, exclusive topics, and complementary data [27].

In summary, the media industry, both locally and globally, faces the challenge of creating a coordinated and convergent broadcasting system that includes print, broadcast, screen, and network media. This requires the definition of new professional profiles, such as social media, big data, and design, as well as new metrics for measuring success, including audio, video, and social networks. Above all, a new mindset is needed, as the digital environment demands innovation. The media must now engage in dialogue with their increasingly fragmented audiences, rather than simply providing narration. In the face of a revolution that reinforces McLuhan’s statement—that the medium, whether it be technology, device, or interface, is the message—the challenge is to adapt the industry’s natural product, which is original, rigorous, and reliable content, to the contemporary environment [98]. This includes the shift from linotype to web media, from radio to the digital soundsphere, and from television to video on demand [99].

7. Conclusions

In just under 40 years, humanity has transitioned from a system of basic linear communication to one of complex and interwoven interactions. As a result of technological advancements, coupled with creativeness, the narrative coherence of television series and serials has been replaced by an unconstrained flow of Snapchat and Instagram stories. People now scroll and swipe instead of browsing on TV, while YouTube and Twitch broadcast various events. Surprisingly, the popularity of contemporary music no longer hinges on Top 40 radio stations, but on TikTok. However, there are no rigid frameworks in this new era; only algorithms govern content dissemination, signifying the end of cadences, genres, and schedules.

All multimedia content is always now accessible and locations, even before it becomes intuitive. As stated by the CEO of Google in 2010, “Technology will be so successful that it will be very challenging for anyone to view or consume any content that has not been tailored to their liking in some form” [65]. The current concern is the information that the machines reveal about individuals [100]. The systematisation and controlled distribution of analogue media has led to a literacy that promotes analytical and structured thinking, thereby subverting the ontology of media time.

The computational environment that fragments and democratises knowledge has given rise to a digital media ecosystem. This ecosystem has diluted structures and contexts, blurred labels, and erased once inalienable genre, channel, and medium categories. We live in an era of easy and instant information and entertainment access. However, relevance and critical understanding of what is consumed cannot be guaranteed solely based on ease and immediacy [88].

The network is a platform for the exchange of knowledge, where the interpretation of reality and the use of information depend on the collective representations that govern communicative and social activities. Digital text is a means of updating codes for communication. Its production relies on operative knowledge and communicative intentionality, which enable the updating of its structures of meaning in relation to the communicative environment’s situations and contexts. The rules of usage are subject to modifications, both momentary and permanent, which are influenced by social processes. These processes are reflected in the textual experiences of individuals, which means that knowledge and access to them are never uniform. Social platforms, as communication channels, determine the use, construction, and organisation of text, as well as the expression of emotions and thoughts through verbal and non-verbal forms.

This article aims to explore the development of media in the digital communication era. It acknowledges that this phenomenon has occurred at different places around the world due to political, economic, social, and other factors. Future research could broaden the view to recognise these differences and broaden the perspective on the issue of media ecology. It is important to objectively evaluate the impact of technology on audience consumption dynamics. Social platforms have become increasingly dominant in shaping society’s non-conformist attitudes towards media, content consumption, and information agendas. This has become a focus of attention for communication research, which will lead to new work in this field.